Kings II 14
1 And Joab the son of Saruia knew that the heart of the king was towards Abessalom.
Intelligens autem Joab filius Sarviæ quod cor regis versum esset ad Absalom,
2 And Joab sent to Thecoe, and took thence a cunning woman, and said to her, Mourn, I pray you, and put on mourning apparel, and anoint you not with oil, and you shall be as a woman mourning for one that is dead thus for many days.
misit Thecuam, et tulit inde mulierem sapientem: dixitque ad eam: Lugere te simula, et induere veste lugubri, et ne ungaris oleo, ut sis quasi mulier jam plurimo tempore lugens mortuum:
3 And you shall go to the king, and speak to him according to this word. And Joab put the words in her mouth.
et ingredieris ad regem, et loqueris ad eum sermones hujuscemodi. Posuit autem Joab verba in ore ejus.
4 So the woman of Thecoe went in to the king and fell upon her face to the earth, and did him obeisance, and said, Help, O king, help.
Itaque cum ingressa fuisset mulier Thecuitis ad regem, cecidit coram eo super terram, et adoravit, et dixit: Serva me, rex.
5 And the king said to her, What is the matter with you? And she said, I am indeed a widow woman, and my husband is dead.
Et ait ad eam rex: Quid causæ habes? Quæ respondit: Heu, mulier vidua ego sum: mortuus est enim vir meus.
6 And moreover your handmaid had two sons, and they fought together in the field, and there was no one to part them; and the one struck the other his brother, and killed him.
Et ancillæ tuæ erant duo filii: qui rixati sunt adversum se in agro, nullusque erat qui eos prohibere posset: et percussit alter alterum, et interfecit eum.
7 And behold the whole family rose up against your handmaid, and they said, Give up the one that struck his brother, and we will put him to death for the life of his brother, whom he killed, and we will take away even your heir: so they will quench my coal that is left, so as not to leave my husband remnant or name on the face of the earth.
Et ecce consurgens universa cognatio adversum ancillam tuam, dicit: Trade eum qui percussit fratrem suum, ut occidamus eum pro anima fratris sui quem interfecit, et deleamus hæredem: et quærunt extinguere scintillam meam quæ relicta est, ut non supersit viro meo nomen, et reliquiæ super terram.
8 And the king said to the woman, Go in peace to your house, and I will give commandment concerning you.
Et ait rex ad mulierem: Vade in domum tuam, et ego jubebo pro te.
9 And the woman of Thecoe said to the king, On me, my lord, O king, and on my father's house [be] the iniquity, and the king and his throne [be] guiltless.
Dixitque mulier Thecuitis ad regem: In me, domine mi rex, sit iniquitas, et in domum patris mei: rex autem et thronus ejus sit innocens.
10 And the king said, Who was it that spoke to you? you shall even bring him to me, and [one] shall not touch him any more.
Et ait rex: Qui contradixerit tibi, adduc eum ad me, et ultra non addet ut tangat te.
11 And she said, Let now the king remember concerning his Lord God in that the avenger of blood is multiplied to destroy, and let them not take away my son. And he said, [As] the lord lives, not a hair of your son shall fall to the ground.
Quæ ait: Recordetur rex Domini Dei sui, ut non multiplicentur proximi sanguinis ad ulciscendum, et nequaquam interficiant filium meum. Qui ait: Vivit Dominus, quia non cadet de capillis filii tui super terram.
12 And the woman said, Let now your servant speak a word to my lord the king. And he said, Say on.
Dixit ergo mulier: Loquatur ancilla tua ad dominum meum regem verbum. Et ait: Loquere.
13 And the woman said, Why have you devised this thing against the people of God? or [is] this word out of the king's mouth as a transgression, so that the king should not bring back his banished?
Dixitque mulier: Quare cogitasti hujuscemodi rem contra populum Dei, et locutus est rex verbum istud, ut peccet, et non reducat ejectum suum?
14 For we shall surely die, and be as water poured upon the earth, which shall not be gathered up, and God shall take the life, even as he devises to thrust forth from him his outcast.
Omnes morimur, et quasi aquæ dilabimur in terram, quæ non revertuntur: nec vult Deus perire animam, sed retractat cogitans ne penitus pereat qui abjectus est.
15 And now whereas I came to speak this word to my lord the king, [the reason is] that the people will see me, and your handmaid will say, Let one now speak to my lord the king, if perhaps the king will perform the request of his handmaid;
Nunc igitur veni, ut loquar ad dominum meum regem verbum hoc, præsente populo. Et dixit ancilla tua: Loquar ad regem, si quomodo faciat rex verbum ancillæ suæ.
16 for the king will hear. Let him rescue his handmaid out of the hand of the man that seeks to cast out me and my son from the inheritance of God.
Et audivit rex, ut liberaret ancillam suam de manu omnium qui volebant de hæreditate Dei delere me, et filium meum simul.
17 And the woman said, If now the word of my lord the king be gracious, —[well]: for as an angel of God, so [is] my lord the king, to hear good and evil: and the Lord your God shall be with you.
Dicat ergo ancilla tua, ut fiat verbum domini mei regis sicut sacrificium. Sicut enim angelus Dei, sic est dominus meus rex, ut nec benedictione, nec maledictione moveatur: unde et Dominus Deus tuus est tecum.
18 And the king answered, and said to the woman, Hide not from me, I pray you, the matter which I ask you. And the woman said, Let my lord the king by all means speak.
Et respondens rex, dixit ad mulierem: Ne abscondas a me verbum quod te interrogo. Dixitque ei mulier: Loquere, domine mi rex.
19 And the king said, [Is] not the hand of Joab in all this matter with you? and the woman said to the king, [As] your soul lives, my lord, O king, there is no turning to the right hand or to the left from all that my lord the king has spoken; for your servant Joab himself charged me, and he put all these words in the mouth of your handmaid.
Et ait rex: Numquid manus Joab tecum est in omnibus istis? Respondit mulier, et ait: Per salutem animæ tuæ, domine mi rex, nec ad sinistram, nec ad dexteram est ex omnibus his quæ locutus est dominus meus rex: servus enim tuus Joab, ipse præcepit mihi, et ipse posuit in os ancillæ tuæ omnia verba hæc.
20 In order that this form of speech might come about [it was] that your servant Joab has framed this matter: and my lord is wise as [is] the wisdom of an angel of God, to know all things that are in the earth.
Ut verterem figuram sermonis hujus, servus tuus Joab præcepit istud: tu autem, domine mi rex, sapiens es, sicut habet sapientiam angelus Dei, ut intelligas omnia super terram.
21 And the king said to Joab, Behold now, I have done to you according to this your word: go, bring back the young man Abessalom.
Et ait rex ad Joab: Ecce placatus feci verbum tuum: vade ergo, et revoca puerum Absalom.
22 And Joab fell on his face to the ground, and did obeisance, and blessed the king: and Joab said, To-day your servant knows that I have found grace in your sight, my lord, O king, for my lord the king has performed the request of his servant.
Cadensque Joab super faciem suam in terram, adoravit, et benedixit regi: et dixit Joab: Hodie intellexit servus tuus quia inveni gratiam in oculis tuis, domine mi rex: fecisti enim sermonem servi tui.
23 And Joab arose, and went to Gedsur, and brought Abessalom to Jerusalem.
Surrexit ergo Joab et abiit in Gessur, et adduxit Absalom in Jerusalem.
24 And the king said, Let him return to his house, and not see my face. And Abessalom returned to his house, and saw not the king's face.
Dixit autem rex: Revertatur in domum suam, et faciem meam non videat. Reversus est itaque Absalom in domum suam, et faciem regis non vidit.
25 And there was not a man in Israel so very comely as Abessalom: from the sole of his foot even to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him.
Porro sicut Absalom, vir non erat pulcher in omni Israël, et decorus nimis: a vestigio pedis usque ad verticem non erat in eo ulla macula.
26 And when he polled his head, (and it was at the beginning of every year that he polled it, because it grew, heavy upon him, ) even when he polled it, he weighed the hair of his head, two hundred shekels according to the royal shekel.
Et quando tondebat capillum (semel autem in anno tondebatur, quia gravabat eum cæsaries), ponderabat capillos capitis sui ducentis siclis, pondere publico.
27 And there were born to Abessalom three sons and one daughter, and her name was Themar: she was a very beautiful woman, and she becomes the wife of Roboam son of Solomon, and she bears to him Abia.
Nati sunt autem Absalom filii tres, et filia una nomine Thamar, elegantis formæ.
28 And Abessalom remained in Jerusalem two full years, and he saw not the king's face.
Mansitque Absalom in Jerusalem duobus annis, et faciem regis non vidit.
29 And Abessalom sent to Joab to bring him in to the king, and he would not come to him: and he sent to him the second time, and he would not come.
Misit itaque ad Joab, ut mitteret eum ad regem: qui noluit venire ad eum. Cumque secundo misisset, et ille noluisset venire ad eum,
30 And Abessalom said to his servants, Behold, Joab's portion in the field [is] next to mine, and he has in it barley; go and set it on fire. And the servants of Abessalom set the field on fire: and the servants of Joab come to him with their clothes tore, and they said to him, The servants of Abessalom have set the field on fire.
dixit servis suis: Scitis agrum Joab juxta agrum meum, habentem messem hordei: ite igitur, et succendite eum igni. Succenderunt ergo servi Absalom segetem igni. Et venientes servi Joab, scissis vestibus suis, dixerunt: Succenderunt servi Absalom partem agri igni.
31 And Joab arose, and came to Abessalom into the house, and said to him, Why have your servants set my field on fire?
Surrexitque Joab, et venit ad Absalom in domum ejus, et dixit: Quare succenderunt servi tui segetem meam igni?
32 And Abessalom said to Joab, Behold, I sent to you, saying, Come hither, and I will send you to the king, saying, Why did I come out of Gedsur? it would have been better for me to have remained there: and now, behold, I have not seen the face of the king; but if there is iniquity in me, then put me to death.
Et respondit Absalom ad Joab: Misi ad te obsecrans ut venires ad me, et mitterem te ad regem, et diceres ei: Quare veni de Gessur? melius mihi erat ibi esse: obsecro ergo ut videam faciem regis: quod si memor est iniquitatis meæ, interficiat me.
33 And Joab went in to the king, and brought him word: and he called Abessalom, and he went in to the king, and did him obeisance, and fell upon his face to the ground, even in the presence of the king; and the king kissed Abessalom.
Ingressus itaque Joab ad regem, nuntiavit ei omnia: vocatusque est Absalom, et intravit ad regem, et adoravit super faciem terræ coram eo: osculatusque est rex Absalom.
